Running the site Waffleizer means learning a lot about what works and what doesn't. With persistence, trial and error -- mostly error -- I have found that many dishes can be made to work in the waffle iron. But sometimes you have to really want it.

Here are four things that will waffle (more or less) and one that just won't.

1. Hamburger bun dough
This makes really impressive, kick-ass buns that look like waffles and taste like hamburger buns. You can then make the burger in the waffle iron, too. Finally, you can use the waffle iron to melt the cheese on the patty, making every layer of this burger waffled. The effect is amazing.

Now, the question is: Should you do any of this? Absolutely not. I can see making the patty in the waffle iron, maybe. But the waffled hamburger buns from scratch? As long as you own a frying pan and have access to a grocery store, you should probably stick to buying your hamburger buns in the bread aisle and frying up your burgers like a normal person.


2. Hash browns
Shredding potatoes and sticking them in the waffle iron means you can just leave the potatoes alone while you prepare the rest of your breakfast. When you open the waffle iron, the potatoes are crispy on the outside, smooth in the center - and complete with the whimsical waffle grid pattern. So, yes, hash browns are easy to do in the waffle iron. And you should actually give this a try.
3. S'mores
S'mores are already excellent and easy. Even better: When you make them in the waffle iron, you get to call them s'moreffles.

Now, the hitch is that you have to make your own graham crackers. Because there is no way that graham crackers from a package are going to waffle. Once you make the dough, you cannot just throw it in there with the marshmallows and the chocolate at the same time. It becomes an ungodly, sticky mess. You need to waffle the graham cracker dough separately, then assemble the marshmallows and chocolate on top of the finished graham cracker waffles, then re-insert the whole stack into the waffle iron to melt the chocolate and the marshmallows.

It's a lot of work for something that you can make in the microwave in about 10 seconds. Should you use the waffle iron for this one? The results are undeniably impressive, but your time is probably more valuable than mine, so I'm leaning toward no.

4. Chocolate cake
If you're going to make chocolate cake, there is really no reason not to use the waffle iron. It's quicker, for one thing. Then you bite into it. And, while your brain thinks waffle, your taste buds say cake. Either way, you win.

5. Leftover macaroni and cheese
This ... does not work. I had visions of crispy edges and creamy centers. But this ... just does not work. It does not work if you put the macaroni and cheese in the waffle iron and press down hard. It does not even work if you, say, stick the mac and cheese in the food processor to pulverize it into uniform chunks before you stick it in the waffle iron. Trust me.

So far I've had more successes than failures. People ask me over and over again if there is anything that I will not try waffling.

Yes. Waffle batter. We already know it will waffle.

Daniel Shumski is a writer and editor who runs the Waffleizer blog, which seeks to answer one question: Will it waffle?